And we're back!
March has been busy, but fun-filled with visitors, our first regional trip, and further exploration of Dubai during our downtime.
The month started with a bang when we finally received our shipments from the US (though 2 months later than expected)! As a result, we have been enjoying every item shipped, especially Naaya's Jumper which Mana insisted we put together immediately before she got too old to play in it!
Our first friends from home arrived within week one of March! Mana's NYU friend, Neha, and her husband Vinnie came to Dubai for a few days and we had a blast with them! While they were sightseeing during the work week, we took full advantage of enjoying our weekend with them. On our first night together, we had dinner at Mango Tree overlooking the Dubai Fountains, visited the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, and experienced Dubai nightlife at Calabar in downtown Dubai.
During the next day, we took them around the Dubai Marina for lunch at Nandos, then walked over to Jetty Lounge, now a favorite spot of ours, for drinks on the beach. From there, we were waiting to get on a boat across to 101 for more drinks and fun when we were stopped because "VIP" was coming through. As it turned out, his highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, was strolling through with his posse. Sahil was totally starstruck after having seen his images all over the government buildings when going through the process to sponsor Myla! After the excitement settled, we got on the boat, had a blast on the Palm, and eventually made our way home in time for Neha and Vinnie to take a flight back to the US!
With only a few days to recover, we got right back to hosting when we had more visitors! One of Mana's closest friends from Kellogg, Sarah (a.k.a. Clabby), came to Dubai for a work trip and extended it to spend time with us! It turned out that the same time she was arriving at our place, Sahil's cousin Darpan was also in town dropping by, as were Mana's parents' very close friends from India, Darshana Aunty and Rashmi Uncle. We had an impromptu happy hour on our balcony to kick off the weekend with all of them!
We then headed out to Jumeirah Beach Hotel where we had dinner at Villa Beach, a restaurant on the beach against the Burj Al Arab. It was a beautiful dinner in terms of food, service, view, and most importantly, company! We finished dinner by walking along the beach and then hitting a bar called 360 (similar to the 360 in Istanbul).
The next day, we hung out with Naaya, celebrated Kellogg spirit since the ladies were all sporting the same gear, and then went to Bubblicious Brunch at the Westin. While we were hoping to explore the Petting Zoo, we were too caught up in eating to see the animals and in the end, just spent the day in the sun, with drinks and shisha at Le Meridien overlooking the water.
We had a blast with Clabbs, bid her farewell, and look forward to seeing her and her boyfriend Ryan again soon enough!
After two weekends of fun with with friends from the US, we took a trip to Oman with our friends Edu and Ana. Proceeding a 6 hour road trip to Muscat full of more security/immigration checkpoints than you could ever imagine, we finally made it to the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa. The hotel was beautifully situated in the cliffs of the mountains over the water. At the hotel we relaxed down the lazy river, took Naaya swimming for the first time (SHE LOVED IT!), and spent some time on the beach. When Mana was pregnant with Naaya we had written Naaya in the sandy beaches of Hawaii, so we took the opportunity this time with Naaya to do it again with her outside Mana!
We explored the city of Muscat where we went to the Souk, walked around the Corniche, saw the Forts, and visited the beautiful Chedi hotel for drinks. We fell in love with this gorgoeus, modern hotel and decided if we ever came back to Muscat, we would stay there next time!
Overall we were very impressed with Oman between the beautiful layout of the city of Muscat and the friendliness of the Omani people!
With a jam-packed March for the most part, we were happy to slow down during this Easter weekend. After seeing Side Effects in theatres at the beginning of our weekend, we spent Friday at the beach watching the helicopter take off and land on the Burj Al Arab. A funny encounter we had that day was running into the Kellogg GIM trip in the middle east who stopped us because Mana happened to be wearing a Kellogg shirt. Small world, and exciting to see fellow Kelloggians across the globe!
On Saturday, we went to Bur Dubai (little India) for lunch and then explored the Gold Souk, took a ferry across the creek, and enjoyed dinner at The Terrace of the Park Hyatt in Deira, overlooking the creek over sunset.
With all this excitement on the personal front, work is going well! Sahil successfully completed a 4 week project in Abu Dhabi. We're definitely excited to have him return home during the week for now! Mana is busy immersing herself in consumer research focused on Arab housewives and their cooking habits in Saudi Arabia and Egypt during the day, and driving new product launches with the US team at night. Naaya has evolved from downward dog yoga poses to crawling slowly but surely! She also eats like a total champion, and stands on her own against the coffee table. Her personality is shining brighter each day with increasing laughter and giggles as well as her continued habit that she started at five months of shouting "Mumma" whenever she gets frustrated!
All in all, things are good! Stay tuned for April when we venture out to Fujairah with our family visiting!
March has been busy, but fun-filled with visitors, our first regional trip, and further exploration of Dubai during our downtime.
The month started with a bang when we finally received our shipments from the US (though 2 months later than expected)! As a result, we have been enjoying every item shipped, especially Naaya's Jumper which Mana insisted we put together immediately before she got too old to play in it!
Our first friends from home arrived within week one of March! Mana's NYU friend, Neha, and her husband Vinnie came to Dubai for a few days and we had a blast with them! While they were sightseeing during the work week, we took full advantage of enjoying our weekend with them. On our first night together, we had dinner at Mango Tree overlooking the Dubai Fountains, visited the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, and experienced Dubai nightlife at Calabar in downtown Dubai.
During the next day, we took them around the Dubai Marina for lunch at Nandos, then walked over to Jetty Lounge, now a favorite spot of ours, for drinks on the beach. From there, we were waiting to get on a boat across to 101 for more drinks and fun when we were stopped because "VIP" was coming through. As it turned out, his highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, was strolling through with his posse. Sahil was totally starstruck after having seen his images all over the government buildings when going through the process to sponsor Myla! After the excitement settled, we got on the boat, had a blast on the Palm, and eventually made our way home in time for Neha and Vinnie to take a flight back to the US!
With only a few days to recover, we got right back to hosting when we had more visitors! One of Mana's closest friends from Kellogg, Sarah (a.k.a. Clabby), came to Dubai for a work trip and extended it to spend time with us! It turned out that the same time she was arriving at our place, Sahil's cousin Darpan was also in town dropping by, as were Mana's parents' very close friends from India, Darshana Aunty and Rashmi Uncle. We had an impromptu happy hour on our balcony to kick off the weekend with all of them!
The next day, we hung out with Naaya, celebrated Kellogg spirit since the ladies were all sporting the same gear, and then went to Bubblicious Brunch at the Westin. While we were hoping to explore the Petting Zoo, we were too caught up in eating to see the animals and in the end, just spent the day in the sun, with drinks and shisha at Le Meridien overlooking the water.
We had a blast with Clabbs, bid her farewell, and look forward to seeing her and her boyfriend Ryan again soon enough!
After two weekends of fun with with friends from the US, we took a trip to Oman with our friends Edu and Ana. Proceeding a 6 hour road trip to Muscat full of more security/immigration checkpoints than you could ever imagine, we finally made it to the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa. The hotel was beautifully situated in the cliffs of the mountains over the water. At the hotel we relaxed down the lazy river, took Naaya swimming for the first time (SHE LOVED IT!), and spent some time on the beach. When Mana was pregnant with Naaya we had written Naaya in the sandy beaches of Hawaii, so we took the opportunity this time with Naaya to do it again with her outside Mana!
We explored the city of Muscat where we went to the Souk, walked around the Corniche, saw the Forts, and visited the beautiful Chedi hotel for drinks. We fell in love with this gorgoeus, modern hotel and decided if we ever came back to Muscat, we would stay there next time! 
Overall we were very impressed with Oman between the beautiful layout of the city of Muscat and the friendliness of the Omani people!
With a jam-packed March for the most part, we were happy to slow down during this Easter weekend. After seeing Side Effects in theatres at the beginning of our weekend, we spent Friday at the beach watching the helicopter take off and land on the Burj Al Arab. A funny encounter we had that day was running into the Kellogg GIM trip in the middle east who stopped us because Mana happened to be wearing a Kellogg shirt. Small world, and exciting to see fellow Kelloggians across the globe!
On Saturday, we went to Bur Dubai (little India) for lunch and then explored the Gold Souk, took a ferry across the creek, and enjoyed dinner at The Terrace of the Park Hyatt in Deira, overlooking the creek over sunset.
With all this excitement on the personal front, work is going well! Sahil successfully completed a 4 week project in Abu Dhabi. We're definitely excited to have him return home during the week for now! Mana is busy immersing herself in consumer research focused on Arab housewives and their cooking habits in Saudi Arabia and Egypt during the day, and driving new product launches with the US team at night. Naaya has evolved from downward dog yoga poses to crawling slowly but surely! She also eats like a total champion, and stands on her own against the coffee table. Her personality is shining brighter each day with increasing laughter and giggles as well as her continued habit that she started at five months of shouting "Mumma" whenever she gets frustrated!
All in all, things are good! Stay tuned for April when we venture out to Fujairah with our family visiting!
